Pages re-written: 4 today 28 total
Inspirations: C.S. Lewis Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
New lines I like:
Fin didn’t understand but he said nothing. He could see that the lady was troubled and he would let her speak when the words came.
***********************************************
I'd be much more productive this week if I wasn't so sick. I swear, this cold has a life of its own. It seems like it moving through my body just seeing how many places it can tweak until I kick it out. Pass the kleenex.
I don't know if anyone reading this blog watches Lost on ABC but man! what a great show. This season is really kicking into high gear.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
My drawing...
Good news of the day: I just found out that I owe $4,000.00 less to the IRS than I thought I did. I'm taking Suzanne out for dinner! (At least once a year it pays to be poor and have a lot of kids.)
So I took a *sigh* Drawing Personality Test. These online personality tests have to be the ultimate waste of time but for some reason I enjoy them. Even though they're pretty much the equivalent of fortune cookies, saying things about you that are impossible to disagree with.
For example, my test told me:
Which, I guess, sort of right. Maybe. Pretty lame, if you ask me. Word to all the personality tests: if you ever give me these results, I'm taking off my hat to you:
Now that's a personality test!
Here's the picture that I drew for my test.
What does your drawing say about YOU?
So I took a *sigh* Drawing Personality Test. These online personality tests have to be the ultimate waste of time but for some reason I enjoy them. Even though they're pretty much the equivalent of fortune cookies, saying things about you that are impossible to disagree with.
For example, my test told me:
- You are driven and ambitious and tend to make radical moves to reach your goals.
- You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
- You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
- You feel morose and are prone to lethargy.
Which, I guess, sort of right. Maybe. Pretty lame, if you ask me. Word to all the personality tests: if you ever give me these results, I'm taking off my hat to you:
- You're a guy who writes YA fantasy in your spare time.
- You're attracted to girls with gaps in their teeth.
- You can play the guitar and the piano but failed at playing drums and the violin.
- You snack on plain popcorn almost every day.
Now that's a personality test!
Here's the picture that I drew for my test.
What does your drawing say about YOU?
Monday, March 26, 2007
Novel Stats
Pages re-written: 5 today 22 total
Inspirations: C.S. Lewis Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
New lines I like:
Keeping his eyes averted, he climbed back into his chair. He would stay up all night, he decided; he would be ready at a moment’s notice with a helping hand. Then he fell asleep.
***********************************************
Sick today. I've been sick since Friday. Not fun. :-(
Going back over the first draft, I discovered that I used way too many words and took way too long to move the story along. Part of the reason was because I didn't know where the story was going. I was like that amazingly slow driver that you get stuck behind; the one who's trying to find that elusive address and has to go laboriously slooooow so he can check each house and street sign. That was me. I thought each driveway and side street might be my destination so I moved like a snail, checking each address digit and reading the street signs twice.
But now that I know where I'm going, I'm cruising right along.
Good movies that I've seen lately:
1. Flushed Away. Really, really, really funny. One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I was cracking up, at least. And clean as the top of a baby's head after bathtime.
2. Stranger Than Fiction. A nice movie. Sidenote: Have you notices how strangely movies portray writer-types?
3. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Bloody amazing. I saw it a long time ago and thought I wouldn't like it as much on the second viewing. I liked it more. Simon, I'm talking to you, baby - you've got to watch this movie.
I had to drive to Sacramento today for a meeting. On the way home I got caught in a ferocious deluge of rain on I-80 and Hwy-49. I was praying that God would get me home safe and he did. Thanks, Lord.
Inspirations: C.S. Lewis Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
New lines I like:
Keeping his eyes averted, he climbed back into his chair. He would stay up all night, he decided; he would be ready at a moment’s notice with a helping hand. Then he fell asleep.
***********************************************
Sick today. I've been sick since Friday. Not fun. :-(
Going back over the first draft, I discovered that I used way too many words and took way too long to move the story along. Part of the reason was because I didn't know where the story was going. I was like that amazingly slow driver that you get stuck behind; the one who's trying to find that elusive address and has to go laboriously slooooow so he can check each house and street sign. That was me. I thought each driveway and side street might be my destination so I moved like a snail, checking each address digit and reading the street signs twice.
But now that I know where I'm going, I'm cruising right along.
Good movies that I've seen lately:
1. Flushed Away. Really, really, really funny. One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I was cracking up, at least. And clean as the top of a baby's head after bathtime.
2. Stranger Than Fiction. A nice movie. Sidenote: Have you notices how strangely movies portray writer-types?
3. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Bloody amazing. I saw it a long time ago and thought I wouldn't like it as much on the second viewing. I liked it more. Simon, I'm talking to you, baby - you've got to watch this movie.
I had to drive to Sacramento today for a meeting. On the way home I got caught in a ferocious deluge of rain on I-80 and Hwy-49. I was praying that God would get me home safe and he did. Thanks, Lord.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Novel Stats (back again)
Daily Word Count: 450 today 28k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
It was fully dark outside. The forest was dripping, tapping, alive with the rain. Lilith walked past him while he fumbled to light his lantern and stared in the dark. Fin couldn’t help but take her in; she looked big and wild as an oak to him – especially in the rain with her hair all wet.
***********************************************
Back to writing again. Work has been crazy. I remember when I started my own business I thought that I'd have more time to spend writing - Ha! At least I value my writing time more these days.
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
It was fully dark outside. The forest was dripping, tapping, alive with the rain. Lilith walked past him while he fumbled to light his lantern and stared in the dark. Fin couldn’t help but take her in; she looked big and wild as an oak to him – especially in the rain with her hair all wet.
***********************************************
Back to writing again. Work has been crazy. I remember when I started my own business I thought that I'd have more time to spend writing - Ha! At least I value my writing time more these days.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Belated update
Sorry about my recent negligence in posting. I've actually been quite productive writing-wise. Here's where I'm at:
Last week I reached the end of part one of my book. During that time I'd managed to accomplish some things:
1) I got to know my characters
2) I came up with my plot
3) I got familiar with my setting
4) I wrote my backstory
Not bad, even if the writing was more than a little sketchy in spots. Actually Part 1, in its current state, was unreadable. I'd been doing the "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" method of writing and a lot of things didn't stick. Subtle things like personality traits and motivations have changed quite a bit since Chapter 1. Big things have changed like, "hey they have guns" to "no, this culture hasn't invented modern weaponry". So when I finished Part 1 last week, I decided to rewrite the thing before continuing; just to clear up stuff in my head and have a good foundation to go forward.
It's been a lot of fun so far and I've managed almost 4,000 words since Saturday. Just as an excerpt I thought I'd share the opening paragraphs as they currently stand. I expect to resume normal posting soon.
3 paragraphs for ya:
The girl was following the pale man and a monster was following her. The trio made a daisy-chain stretching across Postworld. The girl had only seen the pale man once but the image was fingerprinted on her mind: that night in Luna Castle, he standing nonchalantly, covered in her father’s blood. Then that little nod he gave (very gentleman-like) when she stumbled through the door.
She would see him again. Would she kill him? No, probably not. The thought of killing a human being – and the pale man was human – felt more awful now than ever. The pale man had introduced her to blood and death and it seemed that killing him in return would be like agreeing with him. No, she would simply ask him, “Paleface, why did you kill my father? Why’d you kill my mother? Why did you kill my sisters? Why did you kill everyone in New Camelot? And why, did you let me live?”
The Monster that crept at her heels she had not seen. She simply knew it was there, and stalking closer. Paleface had plucked it out of the dark and sic’ed it after her like a dog. But if she could make it to Silverwater she would be safe – unless Paleface had attacked Silverwater too. The dark smudge across the sky at her back reminded her (as if she needed it) that New Camelot, city of warriors was still burning. If she found Silverwater leveled to the ground it would hardly surprise her now.
Last week I reached the end of part one of my book. During that time I'd managed to accomplish some things:
1) I got to know my characters
2) I came up with my plot
3) I got familiar with my setting
4) I wrote my backstory
Not bad, even if the writing was more than a little sketchy in spots. Actually Part 1, in its current state, was unreadable. I'd been doing the "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" method of writing and a lot of things didn't stick. Subtle things like personality traits and motivations have changed quite a bit since Chapter 1. Big things have changed like, "hey they have guns" to "no, this culture hasn't invented modern weaponry". So when I finished Part 1 last week, I decided to rewrite the thing before continuing; just to clear up stuff in my head and have a good foundation to go forward.
It's been a lot of fun so far and I've managed almost 4,000 words since Saturday. Just as an excerpt I thought I'd share the opening paragraphs as they currently stand. I expect to resume normal posting soon.
3 paragraphs for ya:
The girl was following the pale man and a monster was following her. The trio made a daisy-chain stretching across Postworld. The girl had only seen the pale man once but the image was fingerprinted on her mind: that night in Luna Castle, he standing nonchalantly, covered in her father’s blood. Then that little nod he gave (very gentleman-like) when she stumbled through the door.
She would see him again. Would she kill him? No, probably not. The thought of killing a human being – and the pale man was human – felt more awful now than ever. The pale man had introduced her to blood and death and it seemed that killing him in return would be like agreeing with him. No, she would simply ask him, “Paleface, why did you kill my father? Why’d you kill my mother? Why did you kill my sisters? Why did you kill everyone in New Camelot? And why, did you let me live?”
The Monster that crept at her heels she had not seen. She simply knew it was there, and stalking closer. Paleface had plucked it out of the dark and sic’ed it after her like a dog. But if she could make it to Silverwater she would be safe – unless Paleface had attacked Silverwater too. The dark smudge across the sky at her back reminded her (as if she needed it) that New Camelot, city of warriors was still burning. If she found Silverwater leveled to the ground it would hardly surprise her now.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
WIP meme
From JMeadows.
Turn to page 123 in your work-in-progress. (If you haven't gotten to page 123 yet, then turn to page 23. If you haven't gotten there yet, then get busy and write page 23.) Count down four sentences and then instead of just the fifth sentence, give us the whole paragraph.
--
“The girl on my bed – the girl you saved from a Warg is Penelope Everling! The only member of the the royal family who survived!”
--
I'm passing this on to Simon and anyone else who happens to read this.
Turn to page 123 in your work-in-progress. (If you haven't gotten to page 123 yet, then turn to page 23. If you haven't gotten there yet, then get busy and write page 23.) Count down four sentences and then instead of just the fifth sentence, give us the whole paragraph.
--
“The girl on my bed – the girl you saved from a Warg is Penelope Everling! The only member of the the royal family who survived!”
--
I'm passing this on to Simon and anyone else who happens to read this.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Novel Stats
Daily Word Count: 650 today 27.1k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
“What really happened last night? – actually I don’t care. Just as long as we don’t have to do it again. It really hurt...”
“The cuts will heal quickly,” she said.
“Not the cuts; the light. It burned.” I looked over my shoulder, to make sure Fin and Penelope were still asleep, then continued in a low voice, “I thought I was going to wet my pants.”
“Really? Did you? I can wash them before they wake - ”
“No, I didn’t! I’m just saying – the dream hurt!”
***********************************************
Trying to wrap up part 1 of this book. I'm really enjoying it now that all my characters are together and I understand them. Writing is a lot of fun right now.
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
“What really happened last night? – actually I don’t care. Just as long as we don’t have to do it again. It really hurt...”
“The cuts will heal quickly,” she said.
“Not the cuts; the light. It burned.” I looked over my shoulder, to make sure Fin and Penelope were still asleep, then continued in a low voice, “I thought I was going to wet my pants.”
“Really? Did you? I can wash them before they wake - ”
“No, I didn’t! I’m just saying – the dream hurt!”
***********************************************
Trying to wrap up part 1 of this book. I'm really enjoying it now that all my characters are together and I understand them. Writing is a lot of fun right now.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Metrics for HAPPY, THE END
Daily Word Count: 1,250 today (I'm on a roll) 26.5k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
Then a voice roars out of the earth (what a voice!), “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And there is light. But it is not good.
In milliseconds the light mushrooms out from the tower, then expands in a disk. It tears though Penelope and she sees her father sprawled still and pale on the floor, his throat a mess of red flesh. It reaches Fin and he is back in Nome Mine, shrieking while dead voices whisper horror into his ears. It consumes Jack and he sees Amy vanish in a puff of ash and hears his father gasping for breath. It finds Lilith last and she is once again a girl named Katie Smith, bending over a dead boy, sobbing, planning to kill herself.
***********************************************
I'm writing a vision right now. It's a bit esoteric and I'm not very confident about it. This may be a victim of a future re-write. It's one of the weirder thing that I've written. Sorry for the heavy excerpt too.
Daily Word Count: 1,250 today (I'm on a roll) 26.5k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
Then a voice roars out of the earth (what a voice!), “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And there is light. But it is not good.
In milliseconds the light mushrooms out from the tower, then expands in a disk. It tears though Penelope and she sees her father sprawled still and pale on the floor, his throat a mess of red flesh. It reaches Fin and he is back in Nome Mine, shrieking while dead voices whisper horror into his ears. It consumes Jack and he sees Amy vanish in a puff of ash and hears his father gasping for breath. It finds Lilith last and she is once again a girl named Katie Smith, bending over a dead boy, sobbing, planning to kill herself.
***********************************************
I'm writing a vision right now. It's a bit esoteric and I'm not very confident about it. This may be a victim of a future re-write. It's one of the weirder thing that I've written. Sorry for the heavy excerpt too.
Novel Stats
Metrics for HAPPY, THE END
Daily Word Count: 950 today (not bad, eh?) 25.5k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
She summoned us to move away from the fire to a place where the a tangled umbrella of young oak branches formed a sort of canopy. Overhead a full moon looked down on us. When we had assembled, Lilith drew a knife out from beneath her cloak, the blade glinting dully in the moonlight. I gasped (but didn't squeal or anything too embarrassing, thank gods) as she swiftly cut down first her left palm, then her right, leaving two lacerations. Involuntarily I grabbed onto Penelope’s sleeve for support. I felt a little dizzy.
“Are we going to have to cut our hands too?” Fin asked.
Lilith nodded.
“Excellent...” He muttered and took the knife from her.
***********************************************
So, just in case you were wondering, I didn't die from my acid reflux episode. But I did make the midnight run to the drug store for Tums.
The plotlines in my story are coming together right now. All the main characters have met and now they're going to get their marching orders for the rest of the book. I hope I'm taking this in the right direction.
Daily Word Count: 950 today (not bad, eh?) 25.5k total (out of a likely 60-80k)
Inspirations: Emily Bronte, Kate Rusby, Stephen King.
The good:
She summoned us to move away from the fire to a place where the a tangled umbrella of young oak branches formed a sort of canopy. Overhead a full moon looked down on us. When we had assembled, Lilith drew a knife out from beneath her cloak, the blade glinting dully in the moonlight. I gasped (but didn't squeal or anything too embarrassing, thank gods) as she swiftly cut down first her left palm, then her right, leaving two lacerations. Involuntarily I grabbed onto Penelope’s sleeve for support. I felt a little dizzy.
“Are we going to have to cut our hands too?” Fin asked.
Lilith nodded.
“Excellent...” He muttered and took the knife from her.
***********************************************
So, just in case you were wondering, I didn't die from my acid reflux episode. But I did make the midnight run to the drug store for Tums.
The plotlines in my story are coming together right now. All the main characters have met and now they're going to get their marching orders for the rest of the book. I hope I'm taking this in the right direction.
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